Hand grenade



June 10, 1947. SHORT 2,421,762

HAND GRENADE' Filed Aug. 24, 1944 grwe/who v FRANK E1 HURT,

Patenized June 10, 1947 UNITED STATES TENT OFFICIE (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) 2 Claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a safety device for hand grenades. In the standard type of hand grenade there is a safety lever, a part of which constitutes a cover for the bouchon or grenade closure. This lever comprises a hook which hooks over the nose of the bouchon and has an integral arm that overlies the body of the grenade and extends almost to the bottom thereof. The lever is held in safe position by a cotter or safety pin that passes through oppositely disposed holes in ears on the lever that register with similar holes in the side walls of the bouchon. The cotter pin holds the hammer cocked. In this cocked position the hook on the lever hooks over the nose of the bouchon. The desired and expected action of the lever, under the influence of the hammer spring, after the cotter pin has been withdrawn, is to fulcrum or rock on the bouchon nose and make a quick get-away from the grenade when it is thrown. However, it sometimes happens that the lever, after the cotter pin has been withdrawn and the grenade is still held in hand, the lever being pressed tightly against the grenade body, moves the cover portion of the lever laterally in the direction of the nose sufficientl to disengage the hook from the nose allowing the lever to move in the direction of the axis of the grenade body releasing the hammer prematurely. To prevent possibility of this undesired movement of the lever, is the object of this invention which I accomplish by a simple device that prevents any lateral movement whatever between the lever and the bouchon in the direction of the nose and compels the hook of the lever to remain in definite engagement with the nose until such time as the lever is released by the thrower and kicked off the grenade by the hammer, the lever fulcruming upon the nose of the bouchon.

In the drawings illustrating the invention:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the bouchon or closure of a hand grenade, a portion of the grenade body being shown in dotted lines, the released position of the lever being also similarily shown.

Figure 2 is a perspective View of the hammer pm.

Figure 3 is a detailed fragmentary View at right angles to Figure 1, showing the hammer pin extended beyond the sides of the bouchon in the position in which it is engaged by the side ears of the safety lever.

Figure 4 is an elevation of a modified form of the device,

Figure 5 is an elevation, partly in section of the form shown in Figure l, showing so much of the internal mechanism of the bouchon as is necessary to show the application of the invention.

All of the figures are on a greatly enlarged scale.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 3, the numeral l designates the bouchon or closure of the grenade. This is of ordinary construction in every respect except that the ends of the hammer pin 2 are extended through the side walls of the bouchon and mortice'd to form oppositely disposed shoulders 3 for engagement with the edges 4 of the usual ears 5 of the safety lever B, which lever comprises an arm 6 which overlies the grenade body and which is held against said body by the-hand preparatory to throwing the grenade. As usual the bouchon is formed with a lateral extension or nose 1 embraced by the hook 8 of the safety lever, the nose forming a fulcrum for the lever when being kicked olf the grenade by the hammer spring when the lever is released. It will be understood that normally the hammer is held cocked by engagement with the cotter pin 9, and the lever is held in normal position by the same means.

It will be noted that the hook 8 is in close engagement with the nose of the closure I and that the edges of the ears 4 of the lever are in similar contact with the half diameter ends of the hammer pin 2, and that lateral movement, which must precede the unwanted upward movement herein before mentioned, is impossible, but that the lever is free to fulcrum on the nose when it is released.

In the illustration of the modification in Figures 4 and 5, a description of which follows, the internal mechanism of the bouchon has been shown in moredetail because the safety device in this form cooperates with the hammer pin between the side Walls of the closure. The safety lever arm is like the usual one except that just below the top of the cover portion there is struck out a. tab or tongue l0 that is bent inwardly preferably on a curve whose center is substantially the center of the circular portion of the bouchon nose, and positioned to engage the hammer pin H, or more precisely the usual spring l2 wound around the pin. As in the construction first described, the hook 8 is in close engagement with the nose 7 and the tab or tongue I0 is in close engagement with the hammer pin spring, conse- 3 quently no lateral movement of the lever in the direction of the nose can take place with respect to the bouchon, although it is obvious that the lever can freely rock upward on its fulcrum when released.

In Figure 5 the grenade is shown cocked and the cotter pin 9 is shown in engagement with the hammer M, with one end of the spring [2 against the back of the anvil l3 and the other'end against the hammer Hi. When the cotter pin is Withdrawn the hammer will be released but will not be able to reach the anvil because held by the arm 6' of the safety lever, which is still grasped in the hand with the grenade body. However, upon throwing the grenade and consequent release of the grasp upon the lever the hammer spring will kick the safety lever off the grenade as usual. It is pointed out that the internal mechanism of the bouchon shown in Figure 1 is like that contained in the bouchon shown in Figure 5.

The bouchon comprises the usual threaded portion I5 by which it is threaded into the grenade body, and the usual fuse tube 16 which extends the proper distance into the charge chamber.

I claim:

1. In combination with the bouchon of a hand grenade having a lateral extension upon which the safety lever fulcrums in being thrown from 4 the grenade, a safety lever having oppositely disposed ears embracing a portion of the sides of the bouchon and a hook engaging said extension, a hammer pin spanning the space between the sides of the bouchon with its ends extended beyond said sides and positioned to be engaged by said ears of the lever to hold, in cooperation with said hook, the lever against lateral movement on the bouchon in the direction of said extension, after said lever has been released from the houchon and before the grenade is thrown.

2. The invention of claim 1 characterized in that the hammer pin is morticed at its ends to form square shoulders for engagement by the ears of the safety lever,

' FRANK SHORT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,101,071 King Dec. '7, 1937 1,303,260 Davis May 13, 1919 1,517,810 Wiley Dec. 2, 1924 

